Street View Street Food
Boxty
History
The most popular version of the dish consists of finely
grated, raw potato and mashed potato with flour, baking
soda, buttermilk and sometimes egg. The grated potato
may be strained to remove most of the starch and
water but this is not necessary. The mixture is fried on
a griddle pan for a few minutes on each side, similar to
a normal pancake. Traditional alternatives include using
only raw potatoes, boiling it as a dumpling or baking it
as a loaf. The most noticeable difference between boxty
and other fried potato dishes is its smooth, fine grained
consistency.
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Culture
As the interest in Irish cuisine has increased, so the
popularity of boxty has risen. It is not unusual to see
boxty on the menus of restaurants outside the areas
with which it is traditionally associated. Boxty may
be bought in shops and supermarkets either in the
dumpling form or ready cooked as pancakes. Some
modern recipes use garlic and other spices to flavour
the mixture. It is occasionally served as wrap, similar to
tortillas for fajitas.